Chapter 249.
PART 1.
It is not often that she thinks of her home, or even yearns to visit it. In reality, she considers it a backwater world which she was lucky to escape. Granted, there have been many like her, and she even ran into other sorcerers from her home planet. But it still remains the world of savages, who are only concerned with immediate material positions, unaware or uncaring of how small they are in the grand scheme of things. Not that she is any bigger, but she made her mission to learn and gain power that way.
However, when the three galactic races decided to hold their festive gathering in her own home world, she just had to be there to see what was going on. She had attended one such gathering when she escaped into the wider universe when she was completely new to the universe outside of her home planet. And now, the same gathering is taking place on Earth.
This gathering has no particular name. It is just a collection of festivities that are held every hundred years, where Dwarves, Orcs, and Goblins participate in academic debates, competitions, and open markets. The trio of races did that to solidify their alliance. Earlier, Elves used to participate in this gathering as well, but they later decided that such plebian events were not worthy of their presence. This is another reason why Elves have a tense relationship with the three races. They saw it as an insult in a long line of other insults, so they decided that they would invest in other small and upcoming races to lift them up and increase their alliance. They expect to see the results of this within some time, where they would expand their alliance, and overpower the Elves that way. When that day comes, they will isolate them in their own corner, and soon the Elves will be forgotten in the galactic memory.
Or that's what Samay has managed to gather during her time running around the universe.
Samay is surprised to see the changes though. It appears that the magic side is making contact with the other side once again. The world curtain that keeps the two sides apart is admittedly a great piece of magic, a unique beauty that she has never come across anywhere else. This is another reason why Samay considers her world filled with savages. A long-term project on which countless mages worked for a thousand years, and created a curtain that essentially divided two sides, and made the copy of an entire planet. One would think that a species with this level of achievement under their belt would go strength to strength, and will be a galactic power in no time. But that did not happen. Because they are too busy killing each other.
Most of the infrastructure seems to be new as well, which means they most likely had a war recently. Which proves her point.
As if to agree with her, some people start performing a ritual, the ripples of which reach her. "Looks like I have to fix my mess." She said to herself.
Leaving that ritual lying around was a mistake, it is clear to her now.
PART 2.
The alliance of three races chooses a different world every 100 years. That is because they want to establish themselves as partners to the rising races and take them in their fold directly or indirectly, so they can expand their reach to isolate and eventually overpower Elves. The Elves are helpful in this endeavor, as they are happily letting them do this while breaking contact with everyone else, and pretty much leaving the larger galaxy to its own devices.
In the organized carnival, everyone mingles, and some alien dishes are also brought to Earth for demonstration purposes. They were all tested to make sure that they were safe for human consumption. However, the spices used within these dishes are of different intensity. It is generally left to the consumer whether they want to try it or not. So far, the response seems to be positive, and some mages involved in the food business are discussing how they can create combined dishes.
Avinash is getting the report about how things are generally proceeding. Though he is not happy about the incident in the debate hall, (fixing fire damage is expensive), he is generally happy that his country is chosen as a leader in this event. It is because the Subcontinent has positive relations with Goblins, Orcs, and Dwarves, while the rest of the world is less open to them.
'I must take steps to soothe some feathers. I wouldn't want to be ganged up on by ignored world powers.' Avinash Thinks to himself.
Hatori, who is now fully recovered, is with him in the castle. He is enjoying the festivities in his own way. He is dressed as a fantastic mage, complete with fluttering robes and a hat. The look is spoiled by his lack of a beard. Avinash himself is dressed as a gaudy fantasy king, with shiny gold and silver all over his body. Their strange dressing aside, the work has remained the same. Hatori is given the responsibility of the wards, as he is the best rune expert in the country. Even his best runes are not good enough to stop the fire from a hot debate from spreading and burning down an entire hall.
"Sir!" Said the police inspector who had just appeared in the office. "We have an urgent report for you."
"What is it?" Asked Avinash. "Another fire accident?"
"No. Some people were performing a ritual. It backfired, and the whole thing imploded." Explained the man. "Here's the report."
"What the hell?" Said Hatori, when he was handed the report. "They performed this in a residential area. Who is the idiot?"
"Wouldn't you do the same?" Asked Avinash.
"No. I am not that irresponsible." Said Hatori.
"How do you know that the area is residential?" Asked the inspector.
"Because this is where Munshi and Kalicharan live... Dammit. Those two probably got involved in this somehow." Realized Hatori.
"Tell you what, go and investigate this place. Report back to me what you've found." Said Avinash.
"Sure." Said Hatori, and left with the inspector.
They arrive at the location, to find that the house has become a ruin, and near a pool of strange liquid, Hatori found Munshi and Kalicharan. They are both unconscious and seem to be suffering from the overuse of their magic.
"Did you find anything?" Asked the police inspector.
"Not much." Said Hatori. "I have never seen a ritual of this kind. The runes haven't survived either, and there are no bodies of the people responsible for the ritual."
"Maybe that liquid has the clue?" Asked the inspector.
"Not really. Those are dead guards, liquified by Kalicharan. He does that to prevent necromantic resurrection." Explained Hatori.
"Let's take both of them with us. Maybe they can tell us something?" Said the officer.
They both wake up in the infirmary of the castle. What they told them was quite concerning.
PART 3.
Naresh Saini is the new Prime Minister of India. After that whole fiasco with Salima was sorted out, and the cyborg terrorists were hunted down and eliminated, people started to call out to the government to not keep holding on to their emergency powers. They wanted an election, and they wanted them now. They are lucky, as they got their wish. Naresh contested within the race, and since there was a power vacuum, he took advantage of it as much as he could. Ultimately, the party had to make him the candidate for the position, and he finally had the chair that he never thought he would hold.
However, much like his predecessors, he doesn't have much time to enjoy this feeling of victory. Soon enough, a crisis is on hand. "Sir, the time is not working."
"What?" Asked Naresh. "Just reset your clock. Why are you reporting this to me?"
"Sir, you misunderstand me. The time is not working. No clock is working. Phones, computers, satellites, even the mechanical clocks have stopped working."
"That's strange." Said Naresh. He brings out his phone and checks the time. It is incomprehensible to him. The number keeps shifting, and the phone doesn't know when it is A.M. Or P.M.
Before he could think more about this, he had to leave for his scheduled meeting with Avinash. Several long-term projects are still going on, and the king and the government of India regularly discuss them in meetings. "Do you know," said Naresh as a first thing, "Time is not working?"
"What?" Asked Avinash. Naresh feels like the king is echoing him. He elaborated further and explained the situation. "For now, I don't know what is the fallout going to be as a result of this."
"That is strange." Avinash waves a small stick, and glares at the numbers in the air. "They don't make any sense."
'That goes the magical avenue.' Naresh thinks. He was hoping that the magic side might know about what was going on. If they are responsible, even better. He could shift the blame easily. But since the king is unaware, he can't do that.
"It is the second strange report I've got today." Grumbled Avinash. "I wonder what else?" He then remembers he is still in the meeting. "Do you mind if we schedule this later?"
"Sure." Said Naresh. It is a crisis situation. Even he wouldn't want to pretend everything is normal and go on his day as if nothing is wrong.
PART 4.
Avinash is just sorting through the reports he has gotten, that his secretary opens the door of his office. "Sir, the three diplomats are here to see you."
"Show them in." He spoke.
These are three diplomats of Goblins, Dwarves, and Orcs.
The Dwarf is named Diplomat to Earth, simply shortened as Diplomat. The Dwarves are named based on their profession. When they change professions, their name is also changed accordingly. Avinash thinks this would be chaotic and difficult to keep track of, as people would be changing names all the time. But the short humanoid race is not having any problems with it, so he doesn't bother thinking about it. It is not his problem anyway.
The Goblin diplomat is named Diamond Fist, Avinash dubs him Diamond for short in his head. Apparently, he was quite a boxer in his young days and was named for his punching strength. However, he clarified to the king that the name was given to him during his childhood when he had no such accomplishments under his belt.
The Orc is named Wardrum. He was part of a musical band, before he retired, and took the position of a diplomat. He gets along with Shin quite nicely. Their concert together was quite popular.
"What can I do for you, gentle beings?" Asked Avinash.
"You are learning." Smirked Diplomat.
"We have noticed some issues you are having." Said Wardrum. "Maybe timekeeping issues?"
"Dammit." Cursed the king. "So even you are affected?"
"Not so much." Said Diamond Fist. "We can still tune our clocks to our home systems. Things are working fine there. The problem is limited to this system, and potentially, this region of the galaxy."
"Let us get to the point." Said Diplomat, deciding that a direct approach is the way to go.
But before he can continue, the door is opened, and the large form of Hatori walks in. "Still nothing. The runes are burned out, and the magic is not making any sense." He said to Avinash. He then noticed the people present in the room. "Hey." He said by the way of greeting.
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Avinash puts his face in his hands, while the trio greets Hatori, not affected by his sudden entrance. "You are working to figure out what is going on I assume?" Asked Diamond.
"What? How do you know?" He asked. "I thought you guys were here for something else."
"The ritual is connected with the time problems you are having." Said Diplomat.
"You won't recognize it, because you have never experienced something like this before." Said Wardrum. "Your majesty, let me say this as simply as possible. Someone tried to turn back the time, and what you are witnessing is the result of it."
"How do you know?" Asked Hatori. "Maybe it could be something entirely else."
"We have records of this happening before," explained Diamond. "I asked for those when we saw what is going on here. The pattern is the same. someone tries to turn back time, fails, the time is thrown into chaos, and that entire world or region disappears."
"What do you mean by 'Disappears'?" Asked Avinash, in an alarmed tone.
"Exactly what I said. The universe is an active system. It hates anomalies. Trying to reverse time is exactly the sort of thing that throws things out of order. The problem keeps growing, and to stop this growing cancer, it wipes out the entire infected region. Unless you keep the records of that place and the people living there, you won't even know what happened there." Explained Diamond.
Avinash is enraged at this. His entire world could end up disappearing because of a few idiots, and he can't even do anything about it. He is wondering what can he do. He doubts anyone would have a solution to this problem. It is too big for them to solve. He doesn't even know whether they have enough time to come up with a solution or not.
Meanwhile, Hatori is sensing something in the room. While he keeps an ear on the conversation going on in the room, his larger attention is occupied by the presence within the room. It is faint. It feels like something he can only see out of the corner of his eye. When he tries to look, the presence disappears. He specifically designed his new eyes, this time made of gold, to visually help him detect hidden presences, along with his magical sensing abilities. But it appears whoever is with them in the room cannot be found so easily.
'Time to bring them out.' Said Hatori with a nasty smirk. He gets up from his chair, and before anyone knows anything, flames are raining down upon the corner at the size of a fist.
"What the hell?" Avinash is alarmed at this behavior of Hatori. "Don't tell me you are having a breakdown? Stop it!"
"You can't hide from me." Muttered Hatori, as the presence shifted to another corner, and the entire place was bombarded with lightning.
"Stop it damn you. You are destroying my office!" Said Avinash, getting up to put a stop to Hatori's madness himself. The diplomats observe all of this happening quietly.
"Okay, okay. You win." A woman appears in a shimmering light, standing in the wreckage of the wall where she was hiding. "You got me. I didn’t realize anyone would manage to find me in this world. Looks like I'm slipping."
Avinash covers the entire room with his magical pressure. "Who are you?" He asked in his menacing voice. He is done. He is not in any mood to handle more surprises.
"Oh king, don't be such a kid." Said the woman. "Is that any way to treat elders? Back when I was alive..." She looks around at everyone's faces. "What?"
"The elders I respect are a few. Most of them are dead, two of them are in the infirmary." Said Hatori. "In fact, I murdered a lot of old mages during the war."
"Dammit, don't say it out loud!" Said Avinash. He doesn't need a PR disaster like that right now. "Also, pretty big talk coming from a woman who looks to be in her twenties."
"So?" She points to Hatori. "He looks the same too!"
"He is a known quantity-- You know what? Enough of this. Tell us who you are, and then we can talk further." Ordered Avinash.
"Also how did you manage to breach his security." Said Hatori. He then turns to Avinash. "Their heads will roll, I promise."
"Now now, no need to threaten those poor guards. They are good, but they can't handle a sorcerer, now can they?" She said, finally deciding to walk out of the destroyed wreckage.
Hatori, not liking her moving closer to the king, prepares several spells to attack her. But with a wave of her hand, all of them just fizzle out. "Enough of that. Let me introduce myself. I am Samay."
Hatori goes rigid, while Avinash doesn't recognize the name. The trio of diplomats looked at her and pointed toward her. "It is your fault." They said in unison.
"Maybe?" She said with a smirk. Her smirk falters when they continue to glare at her.
"You seem to recognize her name. Care to enlighten us?" Asked Avinash to Hatori.
"I came across her name in the Academy." Said Hatori. "Though there was no picture of her. In fact, I even thought she was a male, because of her name."
"We do have her pictures." Said Diamond. He brings out a device with a screen, and after tapping on it, a picture appears. It is identical to the woman who is standing before them, though her clothing is different.
"Wow. I remember that party. It was wild!"
"Whatever. Why a sorcerer is in my castle?" Asked Avinash.
"Well, to be honest, that time-turning ritual was my design. I abandoned the research when I realized how impractical it was. It appears some people managed to get their hands on my notes." She explained.
"Do you have a way to fix it?" Asked Avinash.
"Yes and no." Replied Samay. Avinash conjures a chair for her, and she sits down. The room starts to repair itself. "I mean I can't do it for you. But there might be a way that you can fix this mess."
"Fine. What is it?" Asked Avinash.
"And how long do we have?" Asked Hatori.
"Hmm. by my calculation, about a hundred years, give or take." She spoke. "Make no mistake. You might think it is long enough to fix your problem. But you may realize that it is actually not enough time."
"Is this some kind of long ritual?" Asked Hatori.
"No. It is no ritual at all. What you need to do is to go back in time, and collect the splinters. Once you bring them back, I can join those for you, and it will fix up the stream nicely." Explained Samay.
"But time travel is dangerous. The people who performed the ritual, look at the damage they did. If we try to go back..." Hatori trails off.
"Realized that haven't you? You have a sharp brain." complimented Samay. "The thing is, it is already damaged. If you attempt something like this now, especially with a sorcerer by your side, you will succeed. Having said that, it will be a long and arduous journey. And I can't send an entire army. The maximum limit is eight. I suggest you choose the strongest fighters; they will end up in a lot of situations where they would need to fight."
"I already have one in the room." Said Avinash. "Go collect others." He orders Hatori.
"Fine." Hatori leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.
"What is up with him?" Asked Wardrum.
"His partner is pregnant." Explained Avinash.
"Ooooohhhh!" they all understand.
Samay shook her head. Mortals can be so strange sometimes. As someone who has existed as an immortal, she does not understand what is the fascination with the children. But she then also has to conclude her thoughts. It is the only way for these people to continue their legacies.
PART 5.
Hatori is sitting in the cushioned chair. It also spins and has wheels too, but none of that interests him right now. Instead, he is thinking about what he has to do next.
After that meeting with Avinash, he leaves to find James, Josh, and Shin. He had to convince them to come with him in this long-term assignment. Shin and Josh agreed to do so reluctantly, but it was not difficult to convince James. He recently left the position of the head healer this year, so he has free time. He also has no family to worry about, so it was easy to convince him.
Shin and Josh though, do have families. Lavanya was giving him such an impressive glare for asking her husband to go on a deadly mission. Of course, Hatori was not someone who backed down, so he returned her glare with equal ferocity. Who does she think she is? She is not the only one who is worried about her family. They don't have any choice. Either they do this, or they all get erased in their lifetime.
One might think, why are they all so worried? It is not like they are experiencing the creeping effects of time. They are not burdened by the old age yet. Mages have a longer period of prime, and given that Hatori is still going with the exercise regime given to him by Zeko without slowing down, he can easily handle any combat situation. His recent fight with the leader of cyborg terrorists is proof of that.
So, the worry is not that they are getting older. The problem is that they have other responsibilities. Hatori has a child coming, and so far, he has managed to raise his children well, with a lot of help from Daphne and Ravina. But he is not willing to abandon them and let them live a life without a father. Not that he feels he is a good parent or anything. He would be a terrible parent if he had to raise these children by himself.
"Dammit, master. Is that why you never bothered to get married or something?" He said to the picture of Zeko.
"Well, it is your own fault." Replied the imaginary Zeko. "You have a responsibility towards your king, your country, and your people. Why are you thinking about yourself?"
Hatori shakes his head. The real Zeko has never expressed any such sentiments. "What people? The idiots who performed these rituals, putting everyone in danger? What king? He'll be replaced in the future. I doubt anyone would even remember him. What country? You all brought me here by force."
"You fool!" Now the imaginary Zeko is behaving like the real one. "Forget those things. If you don't do this, then your children will be erased! They won't have a future, because the universe will purge you all like a bad infection!"
"Maybe it would be better that way." Grumbled Hatori.
"No, it won't be better." said two people who are not imaginary. Daphne and Ravina have entered the room, and it appears they have heard him talk to the imaginary Zeko. Even though they listened to one side of this conversation, they got the gist of it. They are smart like that.
"Don't you worry. We'll handle everything in your absence." Said Daphne.
"Besides, I'll be here. I'm sure I can keep her protected while she coos over the child." Said Ravina.
"What should we name the child though? Do you have anything in mind?" Asked Daphne.
"Hmm. How about Sadhri?" Suggested Ravina.
"What if it is a boy?" Asked Daphne.
"Ahim." Said Hatori.
"Well, that was quick. We weren't able to decide the names so fast previously." Said Daphne.
"Experience." Said Ravina and Hatori together.
As both women chatter about the coming child, Hatori feels a little bit better. He'll come back, and if his children slacked off in his absence, he will whip them back in shape in no time. He smiled at the thought. He also feels like the imaginary Zeko is laughing at the thought as well.